3 reasons DevOps and the cloud need each other

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In a world where frequent releases and iterative feedback rule the software development lifecycle, there’s no better companion for DevOps than the cloud.

DevOps and the cloud have emerged as a result of shifts in social behavior along with accompanying adjustments to enterprise response. DevOps is a journey through improved, quick, and continuous software delivery. The cloud is the performance platform that drives the agility of software execution. The two functions interlock to help your organization manage development and leverage performance, while eliminating environments that are prone to error.

Here are 3 trends that show how a DevOps and cloud approach is needed in the technology market today:

Trend 1: the move from product to service

With the rise of cloud computing, every company has become a services company. Consumers are not only looking for great products; they are searching for great experiences to accompany their use of these products. iPhone and Android phones include customer service as part of their product package. Computer and mobile technologies include GPS, bill paying, food delivery, shopping, maps, and online banking as services which accompany product delivery.

The progression from product as a concern to service as a priority requires that software delivery include the services of speed, innovation, frequency, and reliability. Enterprise priorities, developers, and IT operations are continually challenged to provide and advance software as a service (SaaS).

What to do about it: Cloud agility enhances Internet speed and flexibility, which consequently enables IT and Operations to transition from cumbersome machine-based functions to a greater focus on software as a service. From the DevOps perspective, eliminating the divide between support and development assimilates the software user experience into smoothly-coordinated interactions.

Trend 2: from stability to agility

As the speed of production increases, companies are challenged to adapt their go to market approach. Faster innovations in technology also speed up the demand for shorter production cycles, increased frequency in delivery, and inventive design. Internet technology and the advent of social media have put the consumer at the center of production, such that marketing and advertising functions now respond to consumer behavior rather than activate it.

Marketing is changing its previous method of driving behavior to one of adhering to behavioral demands. From the corporation as a whole to the individual employee, companies must empower creative responsiveness and minimize any waste that impedes action. Work cycles must be shortened, frequency in delivery increased, and an attitude of continual innovation adopted.

What to do about it: From development to production, IT organizations require flexible platforms to enable software as a service. Increased responsibility in managing software requires that organizations achieve software delivery with the speed and agility administered by the coordinated functions of DevOps methodologies and cloud operations. Flexibility in enterprise priorities provided by DevOps couples with facilitated cloud operations to determine quality outcomes in user experience. From enterprise prerogatives to shifts in development, businesses gain marketplace advantage through the utilization of both cross-department collaboration and cross-functional operations; between methodology and user operations.

Trend 3: digital integrates with material

If Apple has taught us anything, it is that hardware and software must work together. The meteoric adoption of Apple products around the globe not only speaks to consumer desires for high quality physical devices, but also seamless and powerful software to go with it. In the world of the cloud, it is impossible to separate one from the other.

What to do about it: Business must adapt to the integration of digital application with material mechanisms. While users expect continuous reliability and innovation in software development (DevOps), they also demand quality and ease of use through operational performance (cloud). DevOps methodology therefore combines with powerful cloud execution to integrate delivery in meeting user expectations.

Conclusion

DevOps and the cloud allow companies to strategically transform user interaction with software delivery. Business no longer fights adaptation, but instead enables adaptability. If the cloud is an instrument, then DevOps is the facilitator. If DevOps is a means, then the cloud is the driver. Together DevOps and the cloud foster and empower the development and IT shifts from ‘wait time’ to ‘active frequency’.

The future of Cloud computing is with DevOps, as is the future of DevOps with the cloud. Even more than product implementation, the combined DevOps/cloud product strategy refreshes opportunities in monitoring software development and release, facilitating IT provision of software as a service, enhancing the reputation of sound software delivery, alleviating time delays in software recovery, and better ensuring return on investment.